I know why the caged bird sings
by autumn desiree
Summary: A chance meeting brings two ill fated teenagers into a complex secret neither could expect . . . and that secret could destroy them all . . .
1. Fighting for the power

Title: I know why the cages bird sings  
  
Author: Chiaki Nozomi  
  
Rating: R for language and violence.  
  
Genre: Drama/Action/Adventure/Romance  
  
A gift, or a curse? Or maybe both?  
  
Alice slowly walked home, enjoying the sound her sneakers made as they scraped against the gravel. Zoanthrope. The word sounded like a horrible, cruel being that was bread for destruction. It would fit perfectly into the plot of a video game. Otaku would have fun slaving hours upon hours trying to master the meaning behind the word, all while killing those in their way. Eventually they would reach the end, and if they lost, well, there was always the reset button.  
  
Life had no reset button, nights at the hospital taught her that. If a person died then they were forever erased from existence, their memory nothing more than a name and data engraved in stone. Death. The city reeked of it, a nauseating stench she could not escape. The hospital had the smell embedded in the walls, no cleaner or perfume could hide it. The streets had been littered with blood at one time or another, and everyone knows humans don't clean their streets. Of all these, however, home was the worst.  
  
Home was a rundown apartment building that was also filled with crack addicts and other druggies. It wasn't uncommon to find them in the halls, steely eyes staring up, dead from an overdose. She didn't hate them for dying - death seemed like the only way to escape the cruel world nowadays. Alice kicked a stone and watched it roll away, then become lost amiss all the other rocks. If only hiding were as easy as blending in with the stable people.  
  
Zoanthrope. Sounded like a killer high. She could tell the idiots about it, and they would leave, scouring the city for the heroin called zoanthrope. Maybe the malodor of death would leave with them. It was wishful thinking. As long as the Tylon Corporation was here, death would never leave the city.  
  
Tylon. The people who cursed her with the gift of being a zoanthrope. Zoanthrope was a word with many meanings and stories. In truth, a zoanthrope was a human who could consciously change into an animal. Because of this, she could never have a true home.  
  
Maybe the druggies had the right idea. Death would bring peace and take her to a true home. What kept her in this world?  
  
Uriko. For about a year or so, she did have a home, with 'aunt' Mitsuko and 'sister' Uriko. That year was the only year of normality she had in her life. Tylon had to destroy that too. They abducted Uriko, leaving a note saying that they 'needed' her.  
  
They didn't need her. They'd use her to get some fat dick in a suit's money. Then the fat dick in a suit would program her to be the ultimate killing machine. Uriko was young, they'd probably turn her training into a game. "Kill a man, thirty points! Kill and man and woman in one blow, fifty points! Get one thousand and receive a prize," Alice yelled to no one in particular, holding back tears of sorrow and self-pity.  
  
Jeers and cheers diverted her attention to the parking lot of her apartment building, where men and women were standing in a circle, most holding a bottle of beer in hand. "Great. Just fucking great. Now I've got crack- heads and drunken fighters living with me." She grinned, and cracked her knuckles while stretching her neck. "Might as well have some fun while they're at it," Alice said as she approached the ring. When she first catch sight of the fight, however, she began to second-guess the thought of breaking it up.  
  
Two men were fighting -one with golden hair wearing army pants, gloves, and combat boots, the other with chocolate hair wearing a red shirt under a black vest with matching jeans and sneakers. Both were strong, equally talented fighters. As she watched them fight, she concluded that the golden man was stronger, but the brown head's speed more than made up for it. "Excuse me," she said, tapping a man on the shoulder, "Can you tell me who's fighting?"  
  
"Gado and Yugo. Gado's older than Yugo, but Yugo's youth is an advantage also. Two of the best fighter's I've seen in my life," he replied, voice slurred by the effects of the drink. Alice nodded and cautiously took a step away from the drunk, who was eyeing her body with lust.  
  
Yugo had grabbed Gado and threw him toward the crowd, who backed away, cheering. Gado flipped upright and landed on his feet, smirking. "Is that all you've got, boy," he taunted, spitting to the side, "You're not even half the fighter your father was!" Yugo growled, half human, half animal it seemed, and dashed to the man, unleashing combo after combo of attacks. Some connected, some didn't, but the moves appeared to be wearing Yugo down more than Gado. In a quick, abrupt move, Gado kicked Yugo away and morphed into a lion hybrid, much to the amusement of the crowd.  
  
"A zoanthrope," Alice whispered in horror. There was no way Yugo could survive against him without the help of another zoanthrope. But that meant calling upon a power that could make her berserk . . . "Gado," Yugo yelled, and morphed into a wolf hybrid. Alice shook her head in disbelief. Years go by without seeing or meeting another like her and on a Wednesday night she see two! "Where is my father," he asked in a half growl. The crowd's fear had set in, and they moved far away from the fighters, watching in awed silence.  
  
Gado gave no reply, instead dashed and attempted to stab Yugo through his stomach. He jumped back, and in the process got his chest slashed. His red shirt was slowly being dyed crimson with his own blood. Howling, Yugo pounced on Gado and bit into his shoulder. Gado roared in pain and kicked Yugo off of him, then ran and stomped on his body after it hit the gravel. Yugo tried to trip him, with no avail. Gado then grabbed the wolf by his neck and held him up like a prize. Yugo kicked and snarled but Gado seemed to tighten his hold, slowly cutting off his supply of oxygen.  
  
The wolf was no more, and the lion held up his human dinner. Alice felt her heart surge with emotion and she dashed and began to attack the lion with jab after jab, punches so fast her movements seemed blurred.  
  
Gado blindly swiped at her, dropping Yugo in the process. He crashed to the ground, unconscious. "Stay out of this," he growled, lunging for Alice's head. She dodged, but his claw caught her ribbon she used to pull up her head in pigtails. The left side of her hair crashed down, and she looked half mature, half child. They stared at each other for a moment, then Gado scoffed and walked away, along with the crowd.  
  
"Yugo," Alice whispered as she dashed to the boy, who lay face up, eyes wide with horror. She checked his pulse while eyeing his chest wounds. Barely alive and fading fast. She'd have to get him to the hospital soon if he were to survive. Picking him up gently, she used her energy to morph into a rabbit and dashed to the hospital, praying that he would survive and she wouldn't go berserk.  
  
~o~  
  
So close, yet so far. Gado. He knew his father, he could tell him where he was. But only if he could beat him in battle . . . Gado was strong and experienced. He was a teenager with a power he couldn't control. Yugo opened his eyes slowly, to find them enveloped in a white light. "Heaven," he questioned, blinking several times.  
  
A feminine voice giggled softly and replied no. Yugo responded by asking if this was hell. The girl giggled again and told him he was in the hospital. "How'd I get here," he questioned, searching for the voice. He tried to sit up but failed, pain attacking his chest with unreal force. He moaned softly and sank back into the hard mattress.  
  
"You're lucky you're alive, you know," Alice said as she entered the room, wearing a white nurse's outfit and her shoulder length hair pulled back with a headband. A coy smile decorated her face, accented by stiking red eyes.  
  
The nurse was beautiful, no denying that. "How'd I get here," he repeated, and the nurse winked and grinned.  
  
"I brought you here. You happened to be fighting near my apartment-"  
  
"You live in that hell house," Yugo exclaimed in surprise.  
  
"Yes. I know it's not much but . . . it's the only place I can hide."  
  
"Who are you," he asked, out of curiosity and the desire to learn the girl's name. She looked about his age, although her eyes made her seem maturer. She looked as if she had been through as much as he had, but he had the added burden of being a zoanthrope.  
  
"Alice. I'm sorry, I have no last name."  
  
"No need to apologize. I'm Yugo."  
  
"Hello . . . Yugo," she replied in quiet shyness, complete opposite of her confident demeanor that she had when she entered the room. "Are you okay? You were near death by time I got you here. I was woried you'd die."  
  
Yugo arched an eyebrow, "Caring for a stranger?"  
  
"Not just any stranger, a stranger who is like me."  
  
"You're a zoanthrope too," he exclaimed in shock. Alice smiled sadly and nodded. "Then . . . have you heard of a man named Yuji Ohagami?" Alice shook her head again, suddenly afraid to speak. "What's wrong," he asked, concerned for the girl.  
  
"When . .. you turn into a wolf, do you go beserk?"  
  
"No. Why?"  
  
"Just wondering, that's all. . . ."  
  
"I lose memory of all that's happened when I transform." Alice looked up, eyes wide with wonder. "I don't remember anything after I turned into a wolf last night. Maybe it's for the best, you know, if I kill someone then I won't remember."  
  
I wish I had your problem," she confessed, sitting down on the edge of his hospital bed, "Tylon kidnapped me as a child. They programmed me to kill with no remorse. It's . . . hard to stay out of that consciousness sometimes. They made it a game, you know? Kill him and you get thirty points. One thousand means a prize," voice becoming thick with sorrow and remorse, "I thought it was fun, killing all them . .."  
  
Yugo watched Alice with concern and pity. No words came immediately to his mind, but seeing her break down tugged at his heart, even though he had just met her minutes ago. Finally, after an awkward silence, the words came, "It wasn't you who killed them," he started, and Alice looked up, eyes shimmering with unshed tears, "Tylon, no, the programmed mind you had killed. The real you was hidden, overshadowed by what you were supposed to be. You didn't think then, you just acted. Don't cry over lost life, use that energy to preserve the life that's left."  
  
Alice smiled slightly, a sad, nostalgic curve of her mouth that softened even the coldest of hearts. "That's why I became a nurse, Mitsuko always told me that. Mitsuko was my aunt. Not blood, of coarse, but she offered me a home, a place where I could live a normal life, even if my blood isn't. For a year, I was in bliss. Then Tylon kidnapped Uriko, and Mitsuko left. Anyway, why are you after Gado?"  
  
"Do you know him," he asked, voice exerting hatred and eyes narrowing.  
  
"No, You and him are the first zoanthropes I've seen in almost a year. I thought Tylon had them all."  
  
"Gado knew my father. I want to know why he left myself and Ambrosia if he knew that Tylon would come after us."  
  
"Your childhood wasn't easy either, eh?"  
  
Yugo nodded, then continued, voice serious, yet verging on anger, "Soon after he left, Tylon stalked us. We were always on the run. They took Ambrosia and performed freak experiments on her. She died of coarse, and her name became lost, without a stone or funeral to commend her life."  
  
Alice nodded, understanding. Herself and Yugo had much in common, maybe fate had brought them together? "Where are you going after this?"  
  
"Wherever Gado takes me. He says he'll tell me about my father if I can beat him in a fight. As you can see, that hasn't happened yet. But I can't give up, I will find the truth."  
  
"What if . . . The truth isn't what you think it'll be? What if the truth hurts more than the lie?"  
  
"How old are you," Yugo asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Seventeen."  
  
"Me too. You seem older."  
  
"So do you."  
  
"Circumstances have a way of making you grow up faster, I guess." Alice nodded, knowing that his words were the truth. Silence followed, and the only sounds heard were the steady beeping of Yugo's heart monitor, the whir of machinery, and the steady breathing made by both teens. Suddenly Yugo spoke, quiet urgency in his voice, "They didn't take my blood, did they?"  
  
"Yes, wh-"  
  
"Shit," he cursed, and jumped up, ripping the tubes from his arms and chest. "They know I'm a zoanthrope! Tylon's probably sent some agents on their way now!" Alice gasped and frowned, feeling guilty.  
  
"I'm sorry Yugo. . ." He eyed her then shook his head.  
  
"You saved my ass back there. Don't worry about it."  
  
"Let me help you escape. If you go running out like that, hospital employees will sedate you and tie you up." Yugo nodded and changed out of the hospital gown and into his jeans and shirt. "I'll take you back to my place. You can decide where you want to go from there."  
  
"Thanks Alice," he replied, and Alice felt a bolt of electricity flow through her body as Yugo glanced over his shoulder and grinned while saying his thanks. She nodded, feeling her cheeks grow slightly red. "Ready," he asked, slipping on his shoe. Alice turned serious and nodded, left the room, and seeing that no one was around, motioned for Yugo to follow her.  
  
"As long as you stay beside me, everything will be okay. I'll take you out using a side exit."  
  
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary Alice 01. Yugo Ohgami will come with me," a snide, cruel voice said, and both teens turned to see a man. He had yellow eyes, black hair, tanned skin, dressed in a black suit and carried a gun.  
  
"Shit," Yugo muttered. "Listen, on the count of three, we transform and run." Alice's eyes protested, she could go berserk and kill them both and everyone in the hospital. "Don't worry," he whispered, "If you kill me I wouldn't mind."  
  
"Don't even think of running," the man continued, approaching the zoanthropes.  
  
"Run," Yugo cried," and both burst into beast form, knocking down the man with the force of the tranformation's energy. The wolf and rabbit hybrid began to dash away, Alice taking the lead and guiding Yugo to the exit.  
  
The man groaned and pulled out a phone, then dialed his comrade's extensions. "Bakuryu, Jenny. We got a code red on our hands. Block all the exits and exterminate upon contact." 


	2. That will always enslave us

Author's Note: NWAHAHA! You don't get to find out what happened to Yugo and Alice until NEXT chapter! ^_~ I am utterly clueless on some characters, so sorry if they seem OOC or something like that. Then again, this is an alternate universe fic... anyways! If anyone would like to help me (with char info and such) please e-mail me at chiaki_nozomi@hotmail.com.  
  
Warnings: Violence, language, suggestive dialogue.  
  
"Mommy . . . Where are you? Mommy," Uriko whispered, walking around a misted abyss. It was the ultimate form of creepiness, with thick fog, black water, a 'moon' of sorts, and loneliness. No one answered her call, except if you counted the never-ending echo of her frightened voice. "Why aren't you answering? Mommy!"  
  
"Uriko," a voice growled, deep and beastly, causing fear to grip the child's insides and twist them about. Uriko screamed, a bone chilling, high pitched inflection that would wrench even the coldest of souls. It had no effect on the monster, for it's voice grew nearer, it's evil aura crept up and slowly wrapped itself around the trembling child. "Release me, Uriko. . ."  
  
"No . . . Who are you? Why are you calling me," she asked in a timid voice, crouching and hugging her knees, slowly rocking back and forth. "You won't go away, no matter how hard I try!"  
  
"You need me Uriko, I am a part of you that can never leave," the beast replied, and Uriko let out a yelp as it wrapped it's arms around her, holding her tight. "Release me, so we can both be free. . ."  
  
"Mommy said never to cry. Mommy said never to die. Mommy said I've got to be me. Mommy said I've got to be free. You can't own me. You can't control me, those were the words said by my Mommy," Uriko replied systematically, she'd made up the chant as she went, hoping her words and mention of Mommy would bring Mommy closer.  
  
"What are you trying to do child? You can't call your Mommy! Your mommy is dead! You killed her," the beast exclaimed, slight sing song in his voice. "Can you not remember her screams, the taste of her blood, the way you laughed with glee as you tore her to shreds?"  
  
-|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|-  
  
"What's the status on Subject 045 and Subject 999," Jigoku asked the small black box that lay on top of his glass desk. A fuzzy voice answered, and Jigoku cursed softly under his breath. Tylon, the world's largest and most technologically advanced company didn't have working telecom systems!  
  
"Subject 045 seems to be doing well, but Subject 999 . . . she's mentally unstable sir. I'm not sure we can bring upon the change in the required timeslot."  
  
"Mentally unstable? Mentally. Unstable. Who gives a rat's fucking ass what the child's mentality is like! We have clients who want her, Akira. Very rich clients. Clients who could bring us down if we didn't give them the promised product. Now tell me, can you bring upon the change in the requiered time?"  
  
"Y-yes sir," Akira replied, then quietly put the phone down. Jigoku laughed, shaking his head sadly. Akira feared him. Not that his fear wasn't misplaced, if someone crossed his path on one of his bad days, well, they didn't live to see another one of his bad days. His employees' anxiety excited him somewhat. He was in contol, all were his slaves, molded to follow his every word.  
  
Feeling hungry for something other than food, he dialed Jenny's extension code only to be greeted by never ending rings. Damn bitch wasn't there when he needed her - again. She would have to be punished accordingly. Of coarse, he would specially administer the punishment. . .  
  
-|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|-  
  
"Speak to me, Uriko-chan." The girl in question was sitting on her bed, looking up at the ceiling, arms crossed over her chest that made her seem dead. Her position completely contrasted with the cheery atmosphere of the room, with soothing blue walls, green furniture, a cream colored bedspread, and stone like tile. A cloud blocking the sun.  
  
"He will get me," the frail child exclaimed, backing away into a corner. Akira frowned slightly and slowly approached her. Uriko, upon arrival, had been a healthy looking child with bright blue eyes, shiny brown hair, and a natural curiosity that drove him and the other scientists insane. Then, one night she had a nightmare, and she became withdrawn, anemic, a shadow of her former self. Something disturbed Uriko, and he was determined to find out what the beast within her was.  
  
"Who will get you," he replied, soothingly, like a mother would console a crying baby.  
  
"Him," came her scared and muffled reply, almost as if saying his name would kill her.  
  
"What is his name? I can't get him unless you tell me his name." Uriko shook her head quickly, then began rocking back and forth, eyes wide with unknown emotions. Akira's frown deepened. Since when had a bright, bubbly twelve-year-old been reduced to a mumbling child of five? Sighing, Akira left the room and quietly shut the door behind him.  
  
"Still no response," his colleague asked when he returned to the staff lounge. Akira shook his head sadly and grabbed a stale chocolate donut from the box on the counter. "You know, if Fox, Jenny, and Bakuryu succeed, we'll have a teenager to worry about." Akira scoffed his reply and took a huge bite out of the sugary morsel. It tasted horrible, like shit covered cardboard. Despite this fact, he stuffed the rest of the doughnut into his mouth and washed it down with a cup of old, cold, coffee.  
  
"What had caused Uriko to change so quickly," he wondered, putting his cool hand on his forehead. "The tapes were all normal, her physical conditions haven't changed, and I'm the only one who is allowed to go in her room. What the hell happened," his mind screamed, and a headache started to form, quickly eating up all other thoughts. Akira moaned, then got up and started the long walk to the infirmary.  
  
-|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|-  
  
"What'll happen to Alice and Mommy," Uriko asked aloud, sucking her thumb, something she hadn't done since she was three.  
  
"Alice is still alive somewhere. You killed Mommy," the beast replied matter-of-factly. Uriko shook her head, brown tendrils flying about.  
  
"I did not kill Mommy! Mommy's still alive!" The beast chuckled, which sounded more like a mix between howl and growl, and said nothing in reply. Before she could awaken, she had to acknowledge the truth. And if she couldn't handle the truth . . . well, he'd make sure that his side of her was released. "Why won't Mommy come," she asked, knowing the answer that the beast would reply.  
  
It had been almost a week now, and she learned to take comfort and trust the beast, which was a part of her as he said. Although he (at least, she thought it was a he) only came in her dreams, the time spent together was slowly awakening her eyes. Mommy had died, she had killed her. But there was a hope - the child in her - that said that Mommy was alive, and Mommy would come rescue her from the bad people.  
  
"Mommy is somewhere where you cannot go just yet. You must wake up Uriko, release me! If not, the scientists will kill you . . ."  
  
"Then I'd be with Mommy," Uriko exclaimed happily.  
  
"What about Alice? She'd be lost without you," the beast quickly added, having his first plan backfiring. It couldn't have it's human partner dying - that would mean it's own death. "Besides, what if she's coming here to save you?"  
  
"She's going to come to the abyss," she replied in shock and jumped up with glee. "Alice, where are you, Alice! I'm over here!" The beast had to keep from laughing. Her vocabulary had matured somewhat, yet she still wasn't thinking clearly. That meant she was almost ready . . .  
  
"Not here, out in the real world, where the scientists are."  
  
"Scientists? I've only seen Akira."  
  
"Think, Uriko, think. You're twelve years old with a mountain of knowledge. You can figure everything out." With those words, the beast vanished, and Uriko was left to realize the truth.  
  
"Is Akira a scientist? He hasn't asked any scientific questions yet. . ."  
  
"Who is this man? Do you ever have visions? Yes, that is right, why do you think that way?" Uriko gasped as memories of questions floated back in her mind. Akira was a scientist, and she was the experiment! But, why would they be after her? Why do they want her? "Akira . .. you told me to trust you. . . But when I finally do, I realize the truth. . . I killed Mother, there is no denying that. But why, why did I kill mother? Why can't I remember?  
  
-|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|-  
  
"Kenji, would you like to play a game?" The blue haired child nodded solemnly, like a robot. And like a doll, he would do as his master told him too, manipulated without any resistance. It was this state of mind that Jigoku wanted Uriko in. Children as killing machines were . . . perfect. They had the outer qualities of innocence, no one would ever suspect them, they had the shock factor, for no child could be as evil as a serial killer, and they were easy to mold, for their mind hadn't formed set states of mind and opinions. "This game revolves around your fighting skills. Have you improved?" Another nod. "Can you survive?" Nod. "Good. Shall we begin? You will get ten points for everything you kill, and bonuses if you do it exceptionally." Nod.  
  
Kenji entered the training room, which was a white padded four-wall exterior with a small entrance for the animals and mechanical beings to enter. Kenji waited impatiently, he wanted to fight, fighting was what he was programmed to do. He needed to fight. A small tiger entered first, and Kenji ran and leapt upon the animal, sinking his nails into the animal's skin and attempting to tear it off.  
  
Jigoku smiled pleasantly as Kenji murdered the animal with no mercy. This child was good, very good. He would make Tylon a nice profit by selling him to a worthy buyer.  
  
A man came out next, and Kenji would dodge and block his punches until he figured out his fighting style, which was an ancient form of martial arts, and quickly put the robot to doom. A woman, lion, and teenager came out next, and all three began to attack Kenji with abnormal force. The child, although he would get punched or clawed occasionally, fought all three with surprising precision and speed.  
  
"Too easy," he whispered as four more obstacles appeared, which were disposed of soon enough.  
  
There was only one problem with the boy - he never transformed into his beastly alter ego. The boy was zoanthrope , his blood proved it. Jigoku couldn't understand why he refused to change. Fighting and physical capabilities were enhanced when the body underwent the 'change', and the boy knew this. Maybe he needed harder opponents, something his programmers would have fun calculating.  
  
His combat skills were progressing nicely; this was the thrid time this week he had to order his programmers to make his opponents harder. His skills were almost getting impossible to keep up with, and that spelt money in huge, bold letters.Suddenly an idea came to his mind - Uriko. He'd make Kenji fight her, thus awakening her latent talent. He grinned, then pressed his intercom button and told his secretary to call Akira.  
  
Akira answered the call a minute or so later, apologizing for his tardiness before saying hello. Jigoku's excitement and eageness to try out his idea muted his anger and he ordered Akira to do one thing - "Send Uriko to the training chamber to fight Kenji." Akira's gasp and the omen of the dead line echoed throughout the small laboratory. 


	3. Leading us nowhere

Author's Note : Thanks for all the kind reviews! Ugg, sorry for the long wait. My computer recently went berserk, and I had to delete everything off of it, get a new hard drive, and all the other good parts… ;-;. Anyway, I had to delete this chapter off, (and I was 75% done..) but here it is! Better than ever! Oh yea, things in * are meant to be italics, b/c I wasn't sure if mine were showing up on ff.net.  
  
  
  
Bump bump. Bump bump. Each heartbeat brought her closer to insanity, and ultimately to death. Bump bump. Each thud echoed in her mind, seeming growing louder with each second. Bump bump. Ironic, that her heartbeat matched the rhythm of her steps as herself and Yugo ran toward the only available exit. 'I don't mind if you kill me'. Death, a welcomed commodity, but that luxury was too good for them. They would fight, and they would win, no matter what obstacle came their way. Such was the way of a true warrior.  
  
"Why are we going up the stairs," Yugo asked in a half human, half wolf inflection. Alice gave no answer, for it was obvious. She guessed Yugo was trying to avoid the truth. In old horror movies, those who run up the stairs die. In new horror movies, those who run up the stairs die. But like that annoying cliché, it was the only option.  
  
"The roof. From there we can hopefully jump to the adjacent children's ward. Then we can leave through there." Yugo growled his reply and shot ahead of her, soaring over the steps with ease. Alice gasped and cried out, "What are you doing!" Whatever his reply was, it was not in words, more like a protective, fear causing growl that wolves use when guarding a member of the pack.  
  
It seemed so easy, but from experience, Yugo knew that things weren't as easy as they seemed. Besides, he needed to check the roof for the agent's comrades, Tylon wasn't so stupid to use one employee to apprehend a male and female who apparently were strong and smart enough to wrench away from their grip.  
  
Alice. A strange girl. She seemed so cheerful, yet her deep sapphire eyes were sad, like caged bird. "A bird zoanthrope, now that would be something to see," he thought with a half smile. Still, he would have to protect her from harm, after all, she saved his life even though they had never met. And there was the fact that she understood his pain, she knew of the horror and cruelty of life, especially their childhoods.  
  
He finally came to the roof, a wide, spacious flat slab of concrete. He listened for any sound of danger, sniffed the air for the stench of evil. The only sound came from the passing cars, the air smelt clean, although slight pollutants were also mixed in like a cocktail.  
  
Alice had caught up to him now, her soft footsteps proved it. Yugo could tell that she was waiting for him to tell her it was okay, and he nodded, then led her out to the open. "See that building over there," she asked, pointing to her right, "There's our escape route."  
  
"I'll admit, it's not a very good one," a snotty female called from afar. Both zoanthropes turned to the sound, and saw a woman wearing a red miniskirt, matching leather jacket, a white under shirt, and high red heels. She cracked her knuckles and smiled at the animal hybrids, who were looking her over with caution. The wolf boy moved in front of the rabbit, glaring. "Pardon my rudeness. The name's Jenny."  
  
Jenny. The name sounded familiar. "You kidnapped Uriko," Alice cried, voice emitting pure hatred.  
  
"Uriko . . . Uriko . . . Ah yes, the twelve year old half breed. She's almost insane now, did you know that? Sits in a corner, mumbling 'Mommy' and sucking her thumb. Pitiful creature, really. I'm surprised Jigoku hasn't ordered her death."  
  
"You did this to her," Alice screamed, moving up and standing next to Yugo. "I'll never forgive you!"  
  
Jenny yawned, then threw down her jacket. "Is that a challenge? Are you going to get revenge for your lost sister? How . . . sickeningly cliché. But, if you desire death, let me the one to give it to you!" With those words Jenny fell to her knees and sprouted wings out of her back, and her face morphed into one of a bat. She stood, grinning and showing off two fangs.  
  
"A bat . . . She has aerial advantage," Yugo thought as he moved away from Alice so they could assault her from two sides. Alice's form was part rabbit; she could possibly jump high enough to provide an even play field. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side, for a mole zoanthrope approached through the entry that Yugo and Alice had used earlier.  
  
"Don't try and take all the glory for yourself. The zoanthropes are mine!"  
  
"Mine," Alice thought as she moved cautiously away from Jenny. "Does that mine they're not on the same side? Then who? Who sent them if not Tylon," she questioned, then leapt into the air and began to attack Jenny, whose back was turned to the mole. Jenny flew forward, narrowly missing the mole zoanthrope, who snickered with amusement.  
  
"Never turn your back on the enemy," he advised, then dodged a punch from Yugo and sent a kick to his stomach. "And you don't try the same trick twice!" Yugo coughed, causing a few droplets of blood to fall to the cement. A challenge, exactly what he wanted after losing to Gado. A slow wolf grin came over him and he launched a full scale attack on the mole.  
  
It sounded easy, but the rule of life says nothing is ever easy, and Yugo got a few scratches on his arm when he attacked the mole. Jenny and Bakuryu, deciding that two on one is going to be easier than one on one, ganged up on Yugo and began the process of beating him to a pulp.  
  
Alice, however, grabbed Jenny's crimson dress and pulled her away from her new companion. "I'm your opponent," she growled, a hard sound to make while a rabbit. Jenny rolled her eyes and tried to kick Alice in the stomach, but missed because Alice jumped up and over her body, then booted her in the back.  
  
Meanwhile Yugo and Bakuryu were locked in a hold, both animals claws digging into their shoulders. It was a challenge to see how much pain both could take, and both seemed to be on their last edge. Suddenly both screamed and reverted back to their human form.  
  
Jenny and Bakuryu locked eyes for a moment that held a silent plan. Jenny grabbed Alice while Bakuryu grabbed Yugo and both threw the friends at each other, laughing as their bodies hit with a smack. "I thought you were going to kill me," Jenny taunted in her sultry inflection, "But I think I'm going to kill you!"  
  
New found rage became the power source for Alice's fighting, and she ran and jumped, spinning and punching Jenny multiple times in her face and midsection. Jenny flew up higher into the air, thus Alice ran to the edge of the building, catapulted herself up, then kicked the bat in the chest. The bat became a blonde woman as it crashed to the ground, then released blood from her body, leaving crimson stains on her mouth and dress.  
  
Yugo got up weakly, and then took a boxing stance. He may not be a good fighter in wolf form, but in human, as a boxer, he was unstoppable. Mole boy wasn't going to break his record anytime today, zoanthrope blood or no zoanthrope blood. The defeat by Gado was bruising enough to his ego. Smirking slightly, he waited for Bakuryu to make the first move, not only to judge his fighting style, but to issue a quick jab or two as counter attacks.  
  
Bakuryu's style seemed to be a mix of martial arts and street fighting, for he moved with great agility yet had no disciplined moves. Yugo dodged a kick to the face, then issued a few punches and a jab to his face and stomach. Patience was the key to winning, Yugo knew, and the reason why his last couple of fights were lost.  
  
The lack of contact seemed to enrage the man, for he growled and began to attack blindly and wildly. "The greatest assassin in the world cannot touch a mere boy! My honor and future is at stake," Bakuryu thought as he struggled to hit the boy, who was bleeding badly from his right shoulder from where one of his claws had penetrated. In about ten minutes he would be weak and weary from the blood loss, but he didn't have that much time. Jigoku wanted them back with the children at eleven sharp.  
  
Jenny moaned softly as she stood. The girl wasn't supposed to be that strong, yet when she struck the blows felt like a sledgehammer was being beaten into her body. Not even her deadliest kicks had any effect on Alice, for she remained a rabbit hybrid. After countering a punch with a kick to the stomach, Alice fell to the ground, catching her breath. Jenny smiled. Things were starting to go her way finally.  
  
She pulled out a gun and pointed it at Alice's head before she could get up and fight. "Move and you die, my little jackrabbit. You're going to come with me." The hatred and courage in the blue sapphires told Jenny Alice wasn't going to oblige her request anytime soon so she fired a shot to her leg, grazing her left thigh. Then she kicked Alice in the head, and she flew back, landing several feet away, human.  
  
The gunshot had diverted both male fighter's attention to Alice and Jenny, and newfound anger and pain emerged in Yugo when he saw Alice on the ground, fighting to remain conscious. Bakuryu took Yugo's shock as a chance to move near Jenny and both stood, staring at the teenagers.  
  
"Now you two come with us or I kill you," Jenny ordered.  
  
Fight Alice. Awaken the beast within you. Let yourself go, let your consciousness melt into the berserk ness that can defeat these two. After all, the boy said that he didn't mind you killing him.  
  
"I . . . don't have enough energy to transform. I feel weak and dizzy . . ."  
  
If you don't you won't survive! Let your inner child free. Ten points for killing them Subject 025, ten points . . .  
  
Alice couldn't take it anymore. She screamed, a high pitched, blood curling sound that stirred even the thickest of blood. Her body transformed into a rabbit, and she pounced on the nearest victim - Bakuryu - and began to rip him apart.  
  
Yugo quickly got over the shock of seeing the angelic girl become demonic, and kicked the gun out of Jenny's hands before the woman fled, leaving through the only exit. Bakuryu's head was a bloody mess of bone, brain, and other body parts, and Alice screamed again, then focused her attention on Yugo.  
  
"Alice," he said, voice soothing and deep, like the way a father comforts his daughter, "It's okay. I'm not your enemy."  
  
"Fifty points for a zoanthrope rebel. I only need fifty before I get my prize," she babbled, then jumped to Yugo, wrapping a pawlike hand around his throat. "I get a prize when you die!"  
  
"A-al. . ice," he choked out, trying to push her away from him, "It's me, Yugo. . ."  
  
* Don't cry over lost life, use that energy to preserve the life that's left. Preserve life, Alice, prevent tears from falling.*  
  
*I want to win the game. I have to win the game. I have to- . . . preserve life. Help others. . . . I have to return to Alice.*  
  
Alice released her hold on Yugo, transforming back into a human. Yugo coughed and caught his breath while Alice felt tears falling of guilt. She lost her self-control, she almost killed Yugo, her only comrade in the world.  
  
Yugo watched Alice for a moment, then held her, letting her tears stain his torn shirt rather than the blood. She whispered sorry into his chest, breath tantalizing and sorrowful, and Yugo shook his head, then pushed her away gently, "I said I wouldn't mind if you killed me, remember?"  
  
"They took Uriko . . . I have to save her. . . No one deserves the fate I was handed." Silence held her way for a minute or so, which felt like an eternity to the two teenagers, then Alice spoke, voice quiet, and hopeful, "Will you come with me? To Tylon, to get back my sister?"  
  
Yugo gave no immediate reply, her request would mean that he would have to put behind his own journey. But when he saw her sapphire eyes, saw the look she gave him, a look that was indescribable, a look that held pure emotion, pure hope, pure pain, the sum of everything she had felt up to that day. Not even the devil himself could turn down her request. He nodded solemnly, and her smile lit up the darkest regions of his heart.  
  
"Thank you Yugo . . . Let's go back to my place and think of our next move." The new partners leapt from the roof to the adjacent children's ward, about five feet from the main building, then began their trek to the apartment.  
  
-|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|- -|-  
  
"How many points," the boy asked, looking eagerly at his master. Jigoku smirked, then replied,  
  
"One more, if you can kill this girl, you'll have your points." Kenji smiled happily then halfway skipped with glee to the room. Uriko, half insane, was pushed through the tiny doors that were used for entrance, and stared at Kenji. He wore a white karate-type outfit with a black belt tied around his waist, black sweatbands on his wrists, and had startling ocean blue eyes and hair. His eyes were blank, void of any emotion other than the task on hand, and through Uriko's mentality was muddled, she could sense the evil intent.  
  
"Fight," Jigoku commanded, and Kenji jumped on her faster than a fearful rabbit, striking Uriko in the chest with a hard blow. She fell back, eyes beginning to water from the pain. He hit her again, and she cried out, clutching her left elbow. Kenji stopped and stared at Uriko, with her wide hazel eyes and earth colored hair, wearing a fighting outfit similar to his, and watched as a tear fell down her cheek.  
  
None of the former combatants had ever given a response like that. None of the combatants had ever released a sound like the one she did. When he hit her, she felt soft, not hard and stiff like the other challenges . Which left one question - what was she?  
  
"What are you," he asked in bewilderment, sitting Indian style. The girl looked up at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks, breaths deep and static, and opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She shook her head and moved away from Kenji, backing into a corner. "What are you," he repeated, moving close to her.  
  
"Uriko," she whispered in a voice blurred with phlegm.  
  
"Uriko," he quizzically replied. "What kind of robot is that?"  
  
"I'm not a robot! I'm a hu- I don't know what I am. What are you?"  
  
Kenji stepped back, slightly innerved. He had no answer to her question - he had never questioned his origin. Uriko shook her head at his lack of an answer, but refused to move away from the sanctuary of the corner.  
  
Jigoku was fuming inside the small, tidy watching room. He expected Kenji to run in and kill Uriko but he had stopped abruptly and now seemed to be talking with her. There would be no zoanthrope transforming today. Which meant the deadline for their sell as slaves was growing nearer without any promise of profit. He would have to get Akira to devise a 'virus' of some sort that would induce the transformation.  
  
Of coarse, if his agents had captured the two teenagers as he had asked, the problem would be temporarily solved. But those teens had slipped his complex radar for over five years, which meant they probably wouldn't be so easy to capture. He didn't care about that fact, as long as his agents returned them alive by then end of the month, two weeks away.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Done! Phew! I'm already at work on the next chapter, which will (hopefully) be done about next week or so. ^_ Anyway, gotta go and read 'Searching for the Full Moon' by Tanemura Arina-sensei! Ja mata ne minna!!! 


End file.
